Pink slime
Lean finely textured beef (also known as Pink slime or LFTB,[1] finely textured beef,[2] or boneless lean beef trimmings or BLBT[3]) is a meat by-product used as a food additive to ground beef and beef-based processed meats, as a filler, or to reduce the overall fat content of ground beef.[4][5] As part of the production process, heat and centrifuges remove the fat from the meat in beef trimmings.[6] The resulting paste, without the fat, is exposed to ammonia gas or citric acid[7] to kill bacteria.[6] In 2001, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved the product for limited human consumption. The product, when prepared using ammonia gas, is banned for human consumption in the European Union[8] and Canada.[9][10]
For other uses, see Pink slime (disambiguation).
In March 2012, an ABC News series about "pink slime" included claims that approximately 70% of ground beef sold in US supermarkets contained the additive at that time. Some companies and organizations stopped offering ground beef with the product. "Pink slime" was claimed by some originally to have been used as pet food and cooking oil and later approved for public consumption,[11] but this was disputed in April 2012, by both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) administrator responsible for approving the product and Beef Products, Inc. (BPI), the largest US producer of the additive.[12][13] In September 2012, BPI filed a defamation lawsuit against ABC for false claims about the product.[14] By 2017 BPI was seeking $1.9 billion in damages.[15] On June 28, 2017, ABC announced that it had settled the suit.[16] Terms of the settlement were at least $177 million (US).[17] Counsel for BPI stated that this was at that time the largest amount ever paid in a media defamation case in the United States.[18]
The product is regulated in different manners in various regions. In the US, the product is allowed to be used in ground beef, and it can be used in other meat products such as beef-based processed meats. The use of ammonia as an anti-microbial agent is approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and is included on the FDA's list of GRAS (generally recognized as safe) procedures, and is used in similar applications for numerous other food products, including puddings and baked goods.[19] The product is not allowed in Canada due to the presence of ammonia, and is banned for human consumption in the European Union. Some consumer advocacy groups have promoted the elimination of the product or for mandatory disclosure of additives in beef, while others have expressed concerns about plant closures that occurred after the product received significant news media coverage.
In December 2018, lean finely textured beef was reclassified as "ground beef" by the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture.
Production and content[edit]
Finely textured meat is produced by heating boneless beef trimmings (the last traces of skeletal muscle meat, scraped, shaved, or pressed from the bone) to 107–109 °F (42–43 °C), removing the melted fat by centrifugal force using a centrifuge, and flash freezing the remaining product to 15 °F (−9 °C) in 90 seconds in a roller press freezer.[20] The roller press freezer is a type of freezer that was invented in 1971 by BPI CEO Eldon Roth that can "freeze packages of meat in two minutes" and began to be used at Beef Products Inc. in 1981.[21] The lean finely textured beef is added to ground beef as a filler or to reduce the overall fat content of ground beef.[4][5] In March 2012 about 70% of ground beef sold in US supermarkets contained the product.[11] It is also used as a filler in hot dogs produced in the United States.[22]
The recovered beef material is extruded through long tubes that are thinner than a pencil, during which time at the Beef Products, Inc. (BPI) processing plant, the meat is exposed to gaseous ammonia.[23] At Cargill Meat Solutions, citric acid is used to kill bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella instead.[24][25] Gaseous ammonia in contact with the water in the meat produces ammonium hydroxide.[23] The ammonia sharply increases the pH and damages microscopic organisms, the freezing causes ice crystals to form and puncture the organisms' weakened cell walls, and the mechanical stress destroys the organisms altogether.[20] The product is finely ground, compressed into pellets[26] or blocks, flash frozen and then shipped for use as an additive.[27][28]
Most of the finely textured beef is produced and sold by BPI, Cargill and Tyson Foods.[29][30]
As of March 2012 there was no labeling of the product, and only a USDA Organic label would have indicated that beef contained no "pink slime".[27] Per BPI, the finished product is 94% to 97% lean beef (with a fat content of 3% to 6%) has a nutritional value comparable to 90% lean ground beef, is very high in protein, low in fat, and contains iron, zinc and B vitamins.[26] Ammonia-treated LFTB typically contains 200 ppm of residual ammonia, compared to 101 ppm in conventional ground meat without LFTB.[31] U.S. beef that contains up to 15% of the product can be labeled as "ground beef".[32][33] Up to 2005, filler could make up to 25% of ground meat.[23]
In an Associated Press review, food editor and cookbook author J. M. Hirsh compared the taste of two burgers: one containing LFTB and one traditional hamburger. He described the LFTB-containing burgers as smelling the same, but being less juicy and with not as much flavor.[34] In 2002, a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) microbiologist argued that the product contained connective tissue and that he did not consider it to be ground beef and that it was "not nutritionally equivalent" to ground beef.[35] BPI claims no such connective tissue is used in their product.[26] At least since 2004, USDA regulations disallow the use of connective tissue (see § Regulation below).[31]
Current use[edit]
In March 2012, 70% of ground beef in the U.S. contained lean finely textured beef, and a year later in March 2013 the amount was estimated by meat industry officials to be at approximately 5%.[66] This significant reduction is due in part to the extensive media coverage that began in March 2012 about the additive.[66] Kroger Co. and Supervalu Inc. have stopped using the additive.[63]
Cargill started using a label stating "Contains Finely Textured Beef" from 2014.[102] Production of finely textured beef increased modestly, as beef prices rose by 27% over two years in 2014 and "retailers [sought] cheaper trimmings to include in hamburger meat and processors find new products to put it in".[63] Senior management of Cargill claimed almost full recovery as sales tripled.[63] BPI regained 40 customers that are mostly processors and patty-makers who distribute to retailers and the USDA since March 2012.[63] It does not label its product.[63]
In December 2018, lean finely textured beef was reclassified as "ground beef" by the Food Safety And Inspection Service of the United States Department Of Agriculture.[103] This occurred after Beef Products Incorporated submitted new production processes and "a new product" to the Food Safety And Inspection Service, the agency determined that the product may be labeled as "ground beef".[103]
Public perception[edit]
The nature of the product and the manner in which it is processed led to concerns that it might be a risk to human health. There have been no reported cases of foodborne illnesses due to consumption of the product.[37][106][107][108] Among consumers, media reporting significantly reduced its acceptance as an additive to ground beef.[109]
A Harris Interactive survey commissioned by Red Robin[110][111] and released on April 4, 2012, found that 88% of US adults were aware of the "pink slime" issue, and that of those who were aware, 76% indicated that they were "at least somewhat concerned", with 30% "extremely concerned". 53% of respondents who stated that they were aware of pink slime took some action, such as researching ground beef they purchase or consume, or decreasing or eliminating ground beef consumption.[56]
Legislation[edit]
Some consumer advocacy groups pressed for pink slime's elimination or for mandatory disclosure of additives in beef,[5][27][53][112][113] but a spokesperson from Beef Products Inc. at the time said there was no need for any additional labeling, asking "What should we label it? It's 100 percent beef, what do you want us to label it? I'm not prepared to say it's anything other than beef, because it's 100 percent beef".[114]
Other consumer advocacy groups, notably the National Consumers League, expressed dismay at the popular reaction against the product, and especially the plant closures "because of business the company has lost to very serious misinformation, widely disseminated by the media, about its product, lean finely textured beef (LFTB)".[115] Similarly, the Consumer Federation of America said the plant closures were "unfortunate" and expressed concern that the product might be replaced in ground beef with "something that has not been processed to assure the same level of safety".[116] U.S. consumers have expressed concerns that ground beef which contains the product is not labeled as such, and that consumers are currently unable to make informed purchasing decisions due to this lack of product labeling.[5] Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey called upon the USDA to institute mandatory labeling guidelines for ground beef sold in supermarkets, so consumers can make informed purchasing decisions.[117]